Jisc - Libraries Of The Future

Libraries of the Future

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JISC campaigns For many years technology has been transforming education and research, bringing about profound changes to the ways in which learners, teachers, librarians, administrators and researchers undertake their work. JISC campaigns are an attempt to initiate conversations about the issues that are emerging as central to the sector. The further and higher education sectors have responded quickly and effectively to change, harnessing the potential of technology to support, for example, access to a wide range of online resources, widening participation, more student-centred approaches to learning, innovative, complex and distributed research collaborations, and much more. However, many challenges remain. While some of these challenges may be better addressed at the institutional level, others may benefit from broader approaches or from national debates about how technology can be fully integrated into the life and work of colleges and universities and help ensure that UK education and research remain among the best in the world. JISC is at the forefront of many of the issues that have an impact on education and research and JISC ‘campaigns’ are an attempt to initiate conversations – with national organisations and with practitioners, researchers, librarians, senior managers, administrators and others – about the issues that are emerging as central to the sector. As well as the Libraries of the Future campaign – the focus of this brochure – JISC recently ran a Student Experiences of Technology campaign: www.jisc.ac.uk/studentexperiences www.jisc.ac.uk/campaigns

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Introduction

Libraries are at a turning point. As technology rapidly transforms the way we access information, and resources are increasingly available online and in digital formats, the established role of the library as a physical space housing racks of books is looking increasingly out of step with the needs of students and researchers. Allied with technology, library users’ needs and preferences are helping to drive the change in libraries. Students, researchers and teachers now expect to be able to access information around the clock, from almost anywhere in the world and via a growing number of devices, from laptops to phones.

What does this mean for the academic library as we know it? What will it look like in 10 years’ time? Will it exist in its current physical form? What role will librarians play in supporting learning and research in the digital age? Through the Libraries of the Future campaign JISC has opened up these questions to a stimulating and enriching discussion. The debate is grounded in JISC’s commitment to libraries and the services they offer as a vital part of the education and research infrastructure and an essential part of supporting the UK’s education system. The campaign builds on JISC’s rich history of supporting the library sector to work more effectively using technology and working in partnership with researchers and educators.

…libraries must rethink the way they work and the way that they support learning teaching and research. JISC has a long-established reputation working with libraries in universities and colleges to put in place change programmes and to recognise that in the age of the internet and the other digital opportunities, libraries must rethink the way they work and the way that they support learning, teaching and research. The Libraries of the Future campaign has taken this debate to a wider audience, through high-profile debates, publications and newspaper supplements and through the new technologies themselves, from social networks to Twitter and Second Life.

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From eLib to Libraries of the Future

Further Information The eLib report can be found at: www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/ publications/elibimpactstudyreport.aspx About the eLib programme: www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/ programmes/elib.aspx

Libraries of the Future is the latest stage in JISC’s commitment to understanding the needs of library users and helping librarians and managers to respond to them. The campaign emerged from over ten years’ work in supporting and influencing changes within libraries across the education and research sectors. JISC’s work to support change in libraries includes the influential Electronic Libraries programme (eLib), which ran between 1995 and 2001 and promoted a cultural change in academic libraries. The programme had £15,000,000 of funding over three years and its aim was to ‘transform the use and storage of knowledge in higher education institutions’. Since JISC’s eLib programme, academic libraries have changed more than many of those involved ever imagined. Duke & Jordan’s study for JISC of the impact of eLib demonstrated not only the extent to which the programme had influenced

academic libraries but also how effective it has been in the long term. The report is based on interviews with a wide range of stakeholders, some international, and with others related to the library business as well as on case studies of ten libraries. The report shows that eLib promoted a significant change in UK academic libraries: it produced a cohort of library staff with experience of managing sizeable projects that involved IT, a number of whom are making senior contributions to librarianship and information services. The size of the programme caused it to permeate the whole sector and therefore ready it for later changes, such as those highlighted by the Libraries of the Future campaign. These developments have all helped academic libraries in the UK to compete globally. The report also shows that appreciable elements of the programme have remained alive and still serve communities of users.

The report shows that eLib promoted a significant change in UK academic libraries…

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JISC: Supporting libraries

JISC funds a range of programmes and projects that support the work of libraries and drive innovation through technology. These include:

Digitisation

JISC is changing the world of authoritative e-resources through its investment in digitising content from some of the UK’s greatest collections. Spanning centuries, disciplines and sources, the JISC series of pioneering digitisation projects is unlocking a wealth of unique, hard-to-access material from the 16th century to the present day, creating a critical mass of rich, permanent digital resources for the benefit of the widest user base possible within UK further and higher education. www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/campaigns/ librariesofthefuture/digitisation

e-Books

The JISC national e-books observatory project is engaging directly with librarians, publishers and others to assess impacts, observe behaviours and develop new models to stimulate the e-books market, and do all this in a managed environment. www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/campaigns/ librariesofthefuture/ebooks

Repositories

Repositories are rapidly emerging as a key element of research and other institutional infrastructures and libraries are playing a central role in their establishment and development, providing an important service to teaching and research staff that enables them to make their work openly available, is easy to use and fits with existing workflows. www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/campaigns/ librariesofthefuture/repositories

Digital Preservation

Digital preservation is a strategic and collaborative undertaking requiring a range of approaches and skills and the active involvement of library, administrative, technical and managerial staff roles at various levels of responsibility. Librarians are at the heart of these collaborative networks, building on already established infrastructure and communication channels, and helping to ensure that digital preservation is mainstreamed as an institutional priority. www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/campaigns/ librariesofthefuture/preservation

Research Data

Modern scientific research generates vast quantities of data, which must be stored, managed and curated properly if we and future generations are to reap the rewards of substantial research investments. Given the central importance of research data and their management, libraries can position themselves as a key element of research and other institutional infrastructures and bring key skills (such as in curation and metadata) to bear on a challenging topic that is high on the international agenda. www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/campaigns/ librariesofthefuture/research

Diversity and Equality

Ensuring that all students receive the highest level of service is a vital part of the mission of libraries and learning resource centres. Not only a question of legal compliance, it is, more importantly, a matter of equality and fairness. Academic libraries are at the forefront of ensuring that students and staff with disabilities and/or learning difficulties are not disadvantaged. JISC TechDis has for many years been working to support cultural change in this area. www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/campaigns/ librariesofthefuture/diversity

The Google Generation

The JISC/British Library work on the Google generation considers whether, as a result of the digital transition and resources being created digitally, young people, the ‘Google generation’, are searching for and researching content in new ways and if so, how this will shape the way they research and search in the future. It also addresses if new ways of searching and researching for content will prove to be any different from the way that existing researchers/ scholars work. www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/ resourcediscovery/googlegen.aspx

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The Libraries of the Future campaign In an information world in which Google apparently offers us everything, what place is there for the traditional, and even the digital, library? In a library environment that is increasingly moving to the delivery of online rather than print resources, what of the academic library’s traditional place at the heart of campus life? What about the impact of repositories and Open Access on the delivery of library resources? And the need to digitise and make more widely accessible key scholarly resources? And what of the calls for libraries to play a central role in the promotion of ‘information literacy’?

Through Libraries of the Future campaign JISC has opened up – with partner organisations and librarians themselves – a debate about the future of the academic and research library that has tackled all these urgent questions head on.

…a debate that has tackled all these urgent questions head on. The campaign has encompassed events, printed resources, including a Guardian supplement, and podcasts, with the emphasis on the involvement of everyone whose lives are touched by libraries. Like all JISC campaigns, Libraries of the Future performs a number of functions, from raising awareness to generating discussion. Making the most of economies of scale, it also has the added benefit of letting decision-makers know what is already available from JISC while helping JISC to determine what areas need further work. For librarians, the debate allows the profession to pool expertise, test theories and disseminate ideas. It enables library leaders to rise above operational issues and engage in real strategic thinking. For student information practitioners, it offers the opportunity to have an input into the future of the profession that is changing even as they train to join it. For users of library services, the debate allows them to have their voice heard and offers reassurance that their constantly evolving learning, research and teaching needs are being considered – now and in the future.

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Libraries of the Future activities

Printed resources: read the debate

Library spaces for the ‘Google Generation’

Guardian supplement: Libraries Unleashed Articles explore open access, the phenomenon of ‘Library 2.0 – the integration of user generated content with traditional library content – e-books, new business models, digitisation, digital preservation and more. http://education.guardian.co.uk/ librariesunleashed

Beyond the Google Generation report – next steps

CILIP supplement Articles offer an insight into the vital but often behind-the-scenes services that JISC provides as an agent of transformational change across UK higher education as a whole.

Supporting users with disabilities – challenges and opportunities Creating 21st century learning spaces Towards the research library of the future Google and librarians – A transatlantic discussion Find all these podcasts, and more, here: www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/ campaigns/librariesofthefuture/ podcasts

Survey of Librarian Staff The survey showed that senior academic librarians believe that managing and promoting e-resources and e-content will be their main challenges over the next few years. www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/documents/ attitudinalsurvey2008librariansreport

Web 2.0: Join the debate

JISC/SCONUL Library Management Systems study Briefing paper and report on library management systems procurement www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/ documents/librarymanagementbp

Events

Podcasts: listen to the debate

From eLib to the Library of the Future

University of Oxford and Harvard University talk the future of libraries OCLC’s vice-president, Karen Calhoun, talks libraries, the future and learning Information literacy the ‘democratic right’ of every learner, say Scottish experts An interview with Lynne Brindley Listening to students – Innovative responses

Blog: http://librariesofthefuture. jiscinvolve.org Social network: http:// librariesofthefuture.ning.com

What is the Library of the Future? Watch the video of this debate here: www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/campaigns/ librariesofthefuture/debate National E-textbook Debate Challenges for the Digital Librarian Find reports and audio from these events here: http:// librariesofthefuture.jiscinvolve.org/ category/jiscconference08

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Debating libraries of the future

In April 2009, in Oxford, JISC held a high-profile debate on the future of libraries. Expert speakers included Sarah Thomas, head of Oxford’s Bodleian Library, Robert Darnton, head librarian at Harvard University, and Santiago de la Mora, European Partnerships Lead at Google UK. In front of an audience in the lecture theatre and a virtual audience in Second Life, where the event was also broadcast, and via the blogosphere and Twitterverse, participants from across the world considered some of the key challenges that will shape the library of the future if it is to survive. The speakers tackled some of the key issues of the campaign, from the new skills required for libraries to remain relevant and visible, to fostering partnerships between public and private; discerning users’ increasingly diverse needs; and how to meet the future information needs of researchers given the changing models of scholarly communication. Video of the full debate can be seen here: www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/campaigns/ librariesofthefuture/debate

If you’re standing still, change looks fast. If you go with the flow, it will seem effortless. Libraries remain thrilling places and the future of the library is bright. Libraries will continue to evolve but remain true to connecting knowledge-seekers with the accumulated knowledge of the past for the advancement of individuals and society. Sarah Thomas, Bodleian’s librarian and director, Oxford University Library Services

The librarian of the future will not come from the librarian of the present. The librarian of the future will be a revolutionary. Peter Murray Rust, Unilever Centre for Molecular Informatics

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We must digitise and democratise. The problem with many libraries is that they serve a particular body, for example students. We need to open them up – not by opening physical doors, but through digitisation. The point is not to turn our backs on the world but to make the most of this extraordinarily rich university setting in order to share the wealth. Robert Darnton, Harvard University librarian

Librarians are very well-placed to make a difference and secure an enviable reputation for our profession if we continue to watch, listen, think, analyse, collaborate, share, test and try and if we deploy real leadership skills, displaying a genuine willingness to keep reinventing ourselves and our old skills to match the changing environment we find ourselves in at any stage. Jean Sykes, chief librarian and information services director at the London School of Economics

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Where next for Libraries of the Future?

people. At the same time, we know that there is huge potential in coordinating activity between libraries. The UK library sector has a strong track record in taking this approach, but we can do much more – and now is the time to put this into place. JISC is working with thought leaders in the library world to debate the following questions: „„What

might a UK library infrastructure look like in five or ten years – at a local, regional and national level?

„„Which

digital services might be prioritised for sharing between institutions and which need to be retained ‘in-house’?

„„Is

The question that JISC is addressing at the moment is: how do we build the future and what should that future look like? We are at a time of immense change in the way that people think about academic libraries. We are faced with challenges of reduced resource and ever-growing expectation from end-users, in a world where the ubiquitous search engines have created an impression that all content is available at the click of a mouse, instantly and for free. Leaders in libraries are asking themselves hard questions about their future priorities – what kind of service will they provide in five years or ten years? What services are core business and which can be withdrawn? Can services be shared between institutions on a regional or national level, or by institutions that share a similar mission? Each library needs to drive forward its own strategy for how it responds to the changes afforded and challenges posed by the digital environment, including the choice of where it makes sense to share infrastructure, services and even

the current resource discovery infrastructure still fit for purpose – and if not, how should it change?

„„What

might a future library management system include?

„„How

can libraries support the increased need for support of research and learning in the digital world?

„„How

can the library use technology to play an active role in knowledge transfer to other sectors?

To move from the present library to what is required in the future is an immense challenge at three levels: people, processes and infrastructure. JISC will use the outcomes from the debate to guide institutions in how to plan their futures. Sarah Porter, JISC Head of Innovation

JISC is driving innovation in libraries through technology. We see technology as both an enabler of change as well as a change agent in itself so technology can help people to do things better but, also, people will have to change to use technology effectively.

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Further information

Key organisations British Library www.bl.uk Research Information Network www.rin.ac.uk Research Libraries UK www.rluk.ac.uk SCONUL www.sconul.ac.uk

A selection of JISC and other resources Digitisation JISC Digitisation programme www.jisc.ac.uk/digitisation ‘Digitisation in the UK’ www.jisc.ac.uk/uploaded_documents/ JISC-Digi-in-UK-v1-final.pdf Licensing JISC Collections www.jisc-collections.ac.uk Knowledge Exchange www.knowledge-exchange.info/ Default.aspx?ID=154

Repositories JISC Repositories programme www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/ programmes/digitalrepositories2007

Strategic Content Alliance www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/themes/ eresources/contentalliance.aspx

Repositories Support Project www.rsp.ac.uk

e-books www.jiscebooksproject.org Resource Discovery Google Generation report www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/ programmes/resourcediscovery/ googlegen JISC Resource Discovery programme www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/ programmes/resourcediscovery Library Management Systems JISC and SCONUL Library Management Systems Study www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/ programmes/resourcediscovery/ libraryMS

Sherpa www.sherpa.ac.uk Library spaces JISC’s Design for Effective Learning www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/ programmes/elearning_innovation/ eli_learningspaces SCONUL Library Design Award www.sconul.ac.uk/groups/space_ planning/design_award e-Lib e-Lib evaluation report www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/ publications/elibimpactstudyreport For further information, please go to: www.jisc.ac.uk

Libraries of the Future This document is available in alternative formats For more information: www.jisc.ac.uk/librariesofthefuture

Further information about JISC: Web: www.jisc.ac.uk Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 (0)117 331 0789

Document No: 589 Version 1.1, June 2009